Thread by @DanielMicay

GrapheneOS is the continuation of the project formerly known as CopperheadOS. GrapheneOS is open source and is in the process of being properly revived and moved forward.

grapheneos.org
attestation.app
github.com/GrapheneOS
reddit.com/r/GrapheneOS
@GrapheneOS

@GrapheneOS Copperhead was a former sponsor of the project, and agreed to support it as an independent open source project under my control. Copperhead never owned the code. It was not written for them and was never assigned to them. This was part of a very explicit arrangement I required.

@GrapheneOS Unfortunately, the CEO of Copperhead (James Donaldson) is a scam artist with a criminal background. He ended up breaking the terms of agreements and attempting to seize control and ownership of the project, including attempting to compromise the security of the people using it.

@GrapheneOS He seized control over the infrastructure, stole all the donations and began his attempts to destroy the project which are still ongoing today. He's spreading lies about the project and myself on a daily basis and still attempting to do whatever he can to continue causing damage.

@GrapheneOS James was only ever interested in using the project and myself to line his pockets with money through whatever means possible. Copperhead was run in a highly unethical and irregular way. He pursued and signed deals with criminal organizations and tried to sell out to governments.

@GrapheneOS Near the end of Copperhead's involvement, James was pursuing a deal with a US military contractor. He told me he needed to provide access to infrastructure and signing keys so they could "audit" them. It was a ridiculous request that I obviously refused.

https://x.com/snowden/status/944244053184524288

@GrapheneOS James and one of his associates were scheming to trick the police into seizing my personal hardware by claiming it was stolen company property in an attempt to get the signing keys, which wouldn't have worked anyway. I was leaked this information by someone involved with them.

@GrapheneOS It was impossible to push further updates for the original OS due to the infrastructure takeover. It was also going to take a long time to revive the project. Over a year later, it's still not fully revived and on track. I made the decision to wipe the keys to prevent compromise.

@GrapheneOS Nothing was lost from wiping the keys because it wasn't going to be possible to push a non-compromised update. I also needed fresh, untainted keys not associated with that incarnation of the project due to the threats to weaponize the police / legal system with a false narrative.

@GrapheneOS I'm currently still hard at work reviving the project. An enormous amount of damage was done to the project through theft of the donations, revenue, the primary means of communication with the community (email list, IRC channel, Matrix room, Twitter account, subreddit) and more.

@GrapheneOS I've had a very difficult time over the past year and a half. I founded this project and developed / maintained all of it over the years. I co-founded a company that was supposed to sponsor it, but it took far more than it provided even before it was hijacked and turned on me.

@GrapheneOS A year and a half later, James Donaldson is still doing whatever he can to harm the project and myself. He's using the project's legacy donations, revenue, mailing list, Twitter account, etc. as weapons to damage it, and is still attempting to scam people/companies out of money.

@GrapheneOS If it wasn't for malicious people aiming to destroy it, GrapheneOS would be much further along. It would have a substantial development team and hardware partners producing experimental generations of hardened smartphones. I don't think people realize how much James burned down.

@GrapheneOS Also, if you're wondering based on that quote, @Snowden is aware of what happened with the previous incarnation of the OS. People say lots of nasty things about him but he was there providing support after what happened and GrapheneOS would not still be around today without that.

@GrapheneOS @Snowden So sure, he's not a developer and isn't a highly technical privacy/security expert but he's trying to do good and he's one of the few people providing support to projects aiming to make things better. I see far more silly stuff in feeds of security engineers / researchers anyway.